Lovely description. In my youth I had a Merlin 9 which was coil ignition. I acquired an oil coil and the difference in engine performance was considerable. Idle speed was hugely reduced and plug gap could be increased considerably. No increase in road speed but flexibility improved considerably. It altered my attitude to motoring from the age of 17 some 60 years ago. Flexibility is a very desirable feature!
Flexibility is something that is gradually dissappearing Glyn 😄, if i ever want to compete in VSCC events then the mag has to stay but i do have a spare one so will get that rebuilt to have in hand.
An unfinished project of mine was a Splurge gun. Took me ages to get my mag timed. It's a BTH as well. I had it all rebuilt since it was dead and well knackered. If anyone in NZ wants one done I can recommend someone who is excellent. My mag had been hacked by someone trying to get more advance from it by widening the slot in the adjuster sleeve part. That won't work since the maximum advance is set internally in the magneto. But it made me horribly confused when setting it all up. Got there in the end of course. I think the racing chaps prefer Vertex ones for some reason.
When our BTH mag died and needed reconditioning we couldn't afford it and acquired a Scintilla mag not a vertex. It was an absolute revelation created a spark that you could probably weld with. The performance was vastly improved. We eventually had the BTH refurbished and refitted it the performance was not as good as the Scintilla so the Scintilla was refitted and is still running
@@TweedsGarage Off the top of my head I am fairly sure that it is a PN4 with flange mounting plate/casting must have been an original fitment as it lines up perfectly wilt 3 nuts and bolts. However while 2 are easy to get to the 3rd on the LHS of the mag is a real bitch to get to!
I would think this kind of thing used to be common knowledge to most Riley owners, and other "mag" vehicles. Today people can't be bothered to even steer the car, let alone actually touching the dirty thing... and that makes me sad. Cheers from the Shed
Its the sad sight of seeing young men standing next to their cars waiting for the breakdown sevices to come and change a wheel for them because they don't have a clue how to, i don't blame them as politicians and car manufacturers have led people to believe that modern cars are far too complex to work on so they don't, but if you take the black engine covers off many a modern car engine you'll find they are based on 20 plus year old engine designs with more electronics on them, they still have oil, oil filters, air filters and spark plugs that are as easy to change as old cars....
@@shedbythetracks Well, these days they are all turning electric. Not much to go wrong mechanically. But the software scares the crap out of me and I say that as a software engineer!
Setting up the timing on the Mag must mean you're getting close to a start up;🤞 Looking into the engine bay of the Riley it shows how things can be made that will last a lifetime and when bits need replacing it's relatively simple, unlike modern cars. Is the Riley your favourite of the cars you've owned? I find it hard to name a modern car unless I see the badge. The pre war and just post war cars are instantly recognisable. The difference I suppose in just chucking data into a computer and someone sitting down with a paper and pencil and drawing what was in their heads. Old fart here and proud of it
Its getting closer Colin, not sure if its my favourite yet as its been in pieces longer than it was together, and as you can see from earlier video's the engine wasn't in the best of health and i didn't realise the suspension was siezed up, so hopefully it should be totally different when its running again. I did find a photo of one of my favourite cars i owned a long time ago, it was my Fiat 127 Sport, sounded glorious, went like stink, handled as well as a Mini .....but rusted like a bugger so its no longer around.....nothing wrong with being an old fart 😁
Hope Jenkins has not been frequenting McD's... Happy days fiddling with BTH on my Alvis spring to mind. The Riley Lynx has a distributer which has been fitted from new. Someone must have had a bad experience in 1933!
No he's stinks the workshop out with bloater paste sandwiches 😒 the cheese slice was a treat, i think it was an option by then dizzy or mag, strangely my 1927 Chevrolet was coil ignition.
Lovely description. In my youth I had a Merlin 9 which was coil ignition. I acquired an oil coil and the difference in engine performance was considerable. Idle speed was hugely reduced and plug gap could be increased considerably. No increase in road speed but flexibility improved considerably. It altered my attitude to motoring from the age of 17 some 60 years ago. Flexibility is a very desirable feature!
Flexibility is something that is gradually dissappearing Glyn 😄, if i ever want to compete in VSCC events then the mag has to stay but i do have a spare one so will get that rebuilt to have in hand.
Thanks Mr Tweed, another entertaining and informative video.
My pleasure Bruce 👍
Great stuff. Lovely to see work on this fine old car.
Cheers.
Hopefully dig it out of the garage soon 🙂
am loving the backing music.
I like to find some snappy tunes Ken 😊
Great stuff as usual, thanks for sharing. Cheers.
My pleasure Crusher, glad you found it.
An unfinished project of mine was a Splurge gun. Took me ages to get my mag timed. It's a BTH as well. I had it all rebuilt since it was dead and well knackered. If anyone in NZ wants one done I can recommend someone who is excellent. My mag had been hacked by someone trying to get more advance from it by widening the slot in the adjuster sleeve part. That won't work since the maximum advance is set internally in the magneto. But it made me horribly confused when setting it all up. Got there in the end of course. I think the racing chaps prefer Vertex ones for some reason.
Cool 😎 what kid didn't want a splurge gun after seeing the movie....or one of those pedal cars
Well done Mr Tweed , you do make it seem not to difficult. Tell Jenkins not to be so greedy
He wanted a burger to go with the cheese slice!
Magnetos! The way to go, all your sparks in one box, now everything is controlled by computers in a black box! Chris B.
Some call it progress... .but they wont be running in 20 years time let alone 95 years
When our BTH mag died and needed reconditioning we couldn't afford it and acquired a Scintilla mag not a vertex. It was an absolute revelation created a spark that you could probably weld with. The performance was vastly improved. We eventually had the BTH refurbished and refitted it the performance was not as good as the Scintilla so the Scintilla was refitted and is still running
That's interesting Mark, what type of Scintilla mag is it?
@@TweedsGarage Off the top of my head I am fairly sure that it is a PN4 with flange mounting plate/casting must have been an original fitment as it lines up perfectly wilt 3 nuts and bolts. However while 2 are easy to get to the 3rd on the LHS of the mag is a real bitch to get to!
Plastic cheese. Great video once again Mr Tweed.
And we are daft enough to eat it !
@@TweedsGarage Reply, yes, I used to. I don't any longer though because good cheese like good wine and beer is SO good that I'm now spoiled.
I would think this kind of thing used to be common knowledge to most Riley owners, and other "mag" vehicles. Today people can't be bothered to even steer the car, let alone actually touching the dirty thing... and that makes me sad. Cheers from the Shed
Its the sad sight of seeing young men standing next to their cars waiting for the breakdown sevices to come and change a wheel for them because they don't have a clue how to, i don't blame them as politicians and car manufacturers have led people to believe that modern cars are far too complex to work on so they don't, but if you take the black engine covers off many a modern car engine you'll find they are based on 20 plus year old engine designs with more electronics on them, they still have oil, oil filters, air filters and spark plugs that are as easy to change as old cars....
@@TweedsGarage Agreed..
@@shedbythetracks Well, these days they are all turning electric. Not much to go wrong mechanically. But the software scares the crap out of me and I say that as a software engineer!
Tallulah, oh my! 🤭
Who doesn't love Bugsy 😁
@@TweedsGarage Now those were cars in that film!
Setting up the timing on the Mag must mean you're getting close to a start up;🤞
Looking into the engine bay of the Riley it shows how things can be made that will last a lifetime and when bits need replacing it's relatively simple, unlike modern cars.
Is the Riley your favourite of the cars you've owned?
I find it hard to name a modern car unless I see the badge. The pre war and just post war cars are instantly recognisable. The difference I suppose in just chucking data into a computer and someone sitting down with a paper and pencil and drawing what was in their heads. Old fart here and proud of it
Its getting closer Colin, not sure if its my favourite yet as its been in pieces longer than it was together, and as you can see from earlier video's the engine wasn't in the best of health and i didn't realise the suspension was siezed up, so hopefully it should be totally different when its running again. I did find a photo of one of my favourite cars i owned a long time ago, it was my Fiat 127 Sport, sounded glorious, went like stink, handled as well as a Mini .....but rusted like a bugger so its no longer around.....nothing wrong with being an old fart 😁
Hope Jenkins has not been frequenting McD's... Happy days fiddling with BTH on my Alvis spring to mind. The Riley Lynx has a distributer which has been fitted from new. Someone must have had a bad experience in 1933!
No he's stinks the workshop out with bloater paste sandwiches 😒 the cheese slice was a treat, i think it was an option by then dizzy or mag, strangely my 1927 Chevrolet was coil ignition.
when are you and Riley going for a rip down the road? assume your Norton is pre rubber mounted engine?
Hopefully soon, I've just got to stop taking things apart. The Norton is a 99 Dominator so yes no rubber mountings